ID :
184587
Thu, 05/26/2011 - 12:25
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/184587
The shortlink copeid
USFK commander renews calls on N. Korea to cease aggression
SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- The top U.S. commander in South Korea on Thursday repeated demands that North Korea should stop its pattern of aggressive actions to win concessions from the South, amid tensions following the North's two deadly attacks last year.
"The Kim (Jong-il) regime continues to provoke this peaceful nation and attempt to force concession," U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) commander Gen. Walter Sharp said at a Memorial Day ceremony at Yongsan Garrison, the main U.S. military headquarters in central Seoul.
"We continue to call on North Korea to change its ways and to join the international community as a responsible nation," Sharp said.
Last year, inter-Korean tensions rose to one of their highest levels since the 1950-53 Korean War after the North sank a South Korean warship and bombarded a southern border island, leaving 50 people, including two civilians, killed.
North Korea has attacked South Korea in many ways since the end of the war, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. And many analysts believe that the attacks were aimed at first getting attention from the outside world and then winning economic concessions from the South.
North Korea also conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 and staged long-range missile tests three times since 1998.
Sharp again stressed that North Korea could carry out more provocations, but warned South Korea and the U.S. will be ready to respond if necessary.
"They attacked their neighbor, continued to develop ballistic missile technology, and they defied obligations by expanding their nuclear capabilities," he said.
"For these reasons, the Republic of Korea-U.S. alliance remains ready to deter and defeat any North Korean aggression, and if deterrence fails, we will fight and win," Sharp said.
"The Kim (Jong-il) regime continues to provoke this peaceful nation and attempt to force concession," U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) commander Gen. Walter Sharp said at a Memorial Day ceremony at Yongsan Garrison, the main U.S. military headquarters in central Seoul.
"We continue to call on North Korea to change its ways and to join the international community as a responsible nation," Sharp said.
Last year, inter-Korean tensions rose to one of their highest levels since the 1950-53 Korean War after the North sank a South Korean warship and bombarded a southern border island, leaving 50 people, including two civilians, killed.
North Korea has attacked South Korea in many ways since the end of the war, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. And many analysts believe that the attacks were aimed at first getting attention from the outside world and then winning economic concessions from the South.
North Korea also conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 and staged long-range missile tests three times since 1998.
Sharp again stressed that North Korea could carry out more provocations, but warned South Korea and the U.S. will be ready to respond if necessary.
"They attacked their neighbor, continued to develop ballistic missile technology, and they defied obligations by expanding their nuclear capabilities," he said.
"For these reasons, the Republic of Korea-U.S. alliance remains ready to deter and defeat any North Korean aggression, and if deterrence fails, we will fight and win," Sharp said.
